Fond memories of British Rail

As predicted, I've neglected this blog, but that's not to say I haven't been baking. Indeed, over Christmas and New Year I've spent many happy hours pottering about the kitchen, and here's a start in noting it down.

This gingerbread recipe is probably my most requested, and if I'm asked for it midwinter I can usually reel it off from memory - not that unusual, I'm sure, and I don't think people asking for recipes are in a position to judge the quirky memory skills of others. But I digress. This recipe comes from Linda Collister's Bread Book via Food from the Place Below and How to Eat. Collister herself tentatively attributes the recipe to British Rail. Whatever its origins, its cookbook pedigree should be inducement enough to give it a try...

It was only when I came to write this recipe down that I realised I use a bastardised version - and that I use metric or imperial measures depending on the equipment I have to hand. So, I use the spicing and the metric measurements from the Place Below but always include the grated stem ginger suggested by Nigella (I don't bother weighing it, but use three pieces straight from the jar).

Gingerbread

225g (8oz) self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
grating of nutmeg
100g (4oz) butter
3 pieces/45g stem ginger
100g (4oz) light muscovado sugar
300ml (1/2 pint) milk
100g (4oz) treacle
100g (4oz) golden syrup
1 egg, beaten


Preheat oven to 180°C (GM4). Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin (or use a silicon mould and do neither - if using silicon bakeware, put a baking sheet in the oven and rest the mould on this when baking to help cook the bottom of the cake).
In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the milk; in another saucepan, melt together the syrup and the treacle. Let both cool to blood temperature (or thereabouts). In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, bicarb and spices. Rub in the butter. Grate in the stem ginger. Mix in first the milk/sugar mixture, then the syrup/treacle mixture, then the egg. The mixture will have a batter-like consistency. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin. Bake for 45 mins to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Wrap it in greaseproof paper and it'll keep in a cake tin for several days (willpower dependent).

A tidy recipe for fruit cake

Back to the Welsh recipes, and this is a classic: Bara Brith. However, as that basically means it's a recipe for fruit cake, I think its Welshness is a little spurious. Added to that, my recipe for it is out of a book. That's probably because I've only started eating fruit cake in the last couple of years - and I don't tend to cook things that I really don't like to eat (how can you taste test things if they're always going to taste bad to you?). But this is a very tasty, very easy recipe - and it fills the house with the smell of toffee. I should plug the book: Traditional teatime recipes by Jane Pettigrew. It's a National Trust book and it's full of recipes that make me nostalgic for things I've never eaten. Powerful stuff...

Bara Brith (900g/2lb loaf)

350g (12oz) mixed fruit
350ml (12 fl oz) tea
100g (4oz) butter
100g (4oz) light soft brown sugar
50ml (2 fl oz) milk
1 tbsp black treacle
225g (8oz) self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs, beaten

Soak the fruit in the tea overnight.
Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin.
Put the fruit, butter, sugar, milk and treacle in a pan (I like to use a large casserole so I can use it for all the mixing), bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (GM4).
Add the flour, mixed spice and beaten eggs to the fruit mix and beat well with a wooden spoon. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake (just below the middle of the oven) for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and to cool completely on a wire rack.

Soda bread is easy

I baked some bread this week and was reminded of how easy it can be. Which is lucky, because I was reclaiming my evening - knackered from running induction sessions for freshers, I was determined not to snooze away my free time. That, and the buttermilk was already past its date. Anyway, this is a recipe I adapted from Best of Irish Home Baking (because the buttermilk I can get locally tends to come in half-pint pots). The weights of flour are approximate - you'll need to judge the consistency of the dough once it's formed.


Brown soda bread

300g (11oz) wholemeal flour
120g (4 oz) plain white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
1-2 tbsp wheat bran (or try oatmeal or seeds or a combination)
284ml pot of buttermilk

Preheat the oven to GM 6 (200°C). Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the buttermilk and mix lightly to combine. If it's too dry, add a little water - but the dough should not be sticky. Bring the dough together with your hands - you can knead a little if necessary, but don't handle it too much - and form it into a ball. Place it on a baking sheet and flatten it slightly. Cut a cross in the top (I find a table knife is best for this). Bake for 35-45 minutes (until the loaf sounds hollow if you tap it). It needs to be eaten the same day - though it also freezes well.